Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

"But I'm still far from Lu Chong's size"

Recalling Lu Chong's mountain-sized soul body, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Five meters was already an astounding size for an ordinary soul oracle, but it was still far from matching up to Lu Chong.

"I should continue absorbing!"

Thus, Zhang Xuan continued to take in spiritual energy from the Cleansing Lake.

As he picked up his pace, his clone did the same as well.

Just like that, another four more hours passed. In this period of time, the spiritual energy in the Cleansing Lake visibly declined as the furious currents and rampaging energies dampened.

"The spiritual energy in the area has thinned, but I'm just a little way off to reaching ten meters"

The spiritual energy in the air had thinned to the point that it seemed as though it would dry up at any moment. However, seeing that he was nearing his goal, Zhang Xuan decided to quicken his pace.

He was just a little off from reaching ten meters. Once he broke this limit, his soul cultivation would reach newer heights. With this breakthrough, he wouldn't be too far off from matching the Lu Chong back then.

While Lu Chong's soul was indeed huge, Zhang Xuan's soul had been tempered with the Heaven's Path Soul Art. While Heaven's Path Soul Art required extremely pure spiritual energy, it also made his soul far stronger than other soul oracles'.

Hong long!

At that moment, his clone's soul suddenly jolted lightly. The other party had managed to surpass the ten meters mark.

To think that his clone would actually absorb spiritual energy at a rate faster than him!

Perplexed as to why one soul could absorb spiritual energy faster than the other despite being the same entity in essence, Zhang Xuan lowered his head to take a glance, and the sight he saw immediately rendered him speechless.

His clone had his body to absorb spiritual energy from the lake as well.

Forged out of a God artifact, the Nine Hearts Lotus, his clone's body wasn't fazed by the violent energies raging throughout the lake. Even though its rate of absorption was significantly slower than its soul, the additional boost from it allowed his clone's soul to cultivate much faster than the main soul.

After reaching ten meters, the soul of his clone grew visibly stronger. At the same time, its rate of absorption was also hiked up a notch.

"I should speed up as well!"

Feeling threatened by his clone, Zhang Xuan absorbed the spiritual energy from his surroundings with greater tenacity.

But no matter how much effort he put into absorbing spiritual energy, he seemed to be gradually slowing down. Lifting his gaze, he realized that a giant vortex had formed around his clone, taking in the spiritual energy around him. It was no wonder his growth was slowing.

A qualitative change would be induced in one's soul upon reaching ten meters. The other party's rate of absorption was at least three times faster than him now.

Seeing the other party frenziedly absorbing spiritual energy from the Cleansing Lake as though he wouldn't be content until the lake ran dry, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt a surge of rage. He slapped the other party's head and hollered, "What are you doing? Leave some for me!"

What the heck was this!

Get this clear, you're my clone!

Stop being so ungrateful. It's one thing for you to send me flying with a punch, now you're even snatching spiritual energy from me?

Where did your sense of shame go?

As an upright master teacher, how could I possibly have a shameless clone like you?

"I" Slapped, the clone stopped his cultivation indignantly.

Zhang Xuan had the other party return to his physical body, and then back into the storage ring. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief.

"Hehehe. With no competition, I should be able to break the ten meters mark easily!"

Chuckling lightly, Zhang Xuan opened up all of the acupoints inside his soul.

With his clone no longer vying with him for spiritual energy, he could finally hasten his rate of cultivation.

"Start."

Muttering softly, he began to draw in spiritual energy furiously through his acupoints.

Hong long!

The spiritual energy flowing into his soul was swiftly converted into soul energy. At this moment, a violent rumbling suddenly sounded, and the Cleansing Lake beneath him began to shake violently before eventually bursting apart.

Hualala!

The lake water flooded into the surroundings as though a leaking dam.

"What happened?"

Stopping his cultivation, Zhang Xuan immediately looked around him to see what was going on, only to see that all of the cultivators had opened their eyes, alarmed by this sudden turn of events.

All of them had confused looks on their faces.

'This is bad. If other people notice my motionless body, it will be hard to explain the matter!'

His body was currently lying by itself in the Lake Eye. At this moment, there was still some spiritual energy mist shielding his body from the eyes of others. However, once the water from the lake ran dry and the mist scattered, he would be exposed before others.

Given that everyone had already opened their eyes and that he was the only one 'cultivating', everyone would surely notice that something was amiss.

Outside the Cleansing Lake, Emperor Ye Wentian and Pavilion Master Wei Jiang were looking over the entire lake from a distance not too far away.

"Lying in the east of the Cleansing Lake is the Verdant Mountain whereas connecting from the west is the Dragon-scaled River. With the breath of the mountain and river, as well as the accumulation of energy from the earth vein, those that cultivate here will surely find their souls being enhanced, becoming even more resilient."

Stroking his beard, Ye Wentian smiled.

As the foundation of Huanyu Empire, the effects of the Cleansing Lake couldn't possibly be just to nourish one's soul. Absorbing the spiritual energy tempered by the earth vein could make one's soul more resilient, and this would be highly beneficial for future cultivation.

This was especially beneficial for one's breakthrough to Transcendent Mortal 8-dan, Ethereal Treading realm.

The term 'Ethereal Treading ' originated from the idea of stepping on the intangible, treating the void as stairs. Using one's soul as an intermediary, one could borrow the strength from the surroundings to allow one's physical body to float in the air for a short period of time.

Without a strong soul, not only would one be unable to float in midair, one might even find one's cultivation being capped. Perhaps even reaching Transcendent Mortal 7-dan Perfect Harmonization realm would be a huge struggle.

While the spiritual energy in the Lake Eyes was much tamer, it had also been tempered by the furious energies flowing through the river. Absorbing such spiritual energy was much more beneficial than absorbing the plain spiritual energy contained in spirit stones.

This was precisely the reason why the Cleansing Lake was so famous.

"Indeed!" Wei shi nodded. "A huge volcano lies under the Cleansing Lake, thus drawing in spiritual energy from the world. This spiritual energy would then be tempered by the volcano, thus raising its purity! On top of that, it also imbues a yang attribute to the spiritual energy, granting one the ability to ward off yin energy."

"Un!" Ye Wentian chuckled. "Look at the spiritual energy bubbling from the lake, it's as though a pot of boiling water. Only through endless tempering will a gem finally show its glow Hmm? Th-this What is going on?"

Just as Ye Wentian was commenting on how incredible the Cleansing Lake was, he suddenly froze, and his voice quivered in shock.

Noticing the peculiarity in his companion, Wei shi quickly turned his head, and what he saw stumped him.

It was as though someone had poured a huge bucket of ice water into the bubbling lake water, thus returning it calmness.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Wei shi suggested, "Perhaps it might have been bubbling for too long, and it wants a rest?"

Having lived for more than a hundred years, he had witnessed the opening of the Cleansing Lake many times. In fact, he had even once cultivated in it as well Logically speaking, under the ceaseless clash between the various energies harnessed within the lake water, its bubbling should have never stopped so why did it suddenly turn stagnant all of the sudden?

"Impossible!" Ye Wentian's face paled. "Our ancestors set up a formation around the lake water, and it is powered by the spiritual energy in the lake. If the lake were to turn stagnant, it could only mean that the spiritual energy has been sapped dry. If that's the case, the formation could break down anytime now"

Hong long!

Before he could finish, the ground suddenly shook, and a huge crack slowly spread across the Cleansing Lake. Following which, the lake water immediately gushed out frenziedly.

"It really broke down"

Wei shi felt the sight before him turning dark.

The Cleansing Lake was the greatest treasure of Huanyu Empire. If it were to fall apart, the number of future experts the empire would have would surely sharply decrease, and the entire empire would fall into panic!

How did this happen?

Everything went as it should There was no reason why cultivators cultivating in the Lake Eye would cause a sharp decrease in spiritual energy in the Cleansing Lake, thus resulting in instability in the formation!

Watching as the water gushed out from the lake rapidly, Emperor Ye Wentian anxiously said, "I'll get Sixth Princess and the others to evacuate now. Once all of the lake water runs dry the pressure suppressing the volcano will be released, and this could result in a catastrophe! Wei shi, you should hurry up and get Guild Leader Wu and the others from the Formation Master Guild over here to fix the formation!"

The Cleansing Lake had been regulated by a massive formation to create a balance among the energies from the Verdant Mountain, Dragon-scaled River, and earth vein. However, with the formation breaking apart, the balance that had been suppressing the earth vein had been shattered, and as the earth vein grew more and more active, there was a good chance that an eruption may occur.

Given the massive size of this volcano, no one incapable of flight would be able to escape should an eruption occur, not even a Half-Saint. Everyone here would surely be reduced to dust.

The might of nature is unrivaled. Only a true Saint could still stand their ground before it. Anything else would be nothing other than mere ants.

It was one thing for him to meet with danger, but if some kind of mishap were to come unto the Sixth Princess and the others the entire Huanyu Empire could possibly be destroyed under the wrath of Hongyuan Empire!

He thought that by inviting the Sixth Princess here to train, he could make use of this chance to please the other party and raise Huanyu Empire's status. Who knew that the usually stable Cleansing Lake would suddenly explode!

What the hell was this?

Why did Cleansing Lake simply explode without any warning at all?

If he were to know that Zhang shi was the culprit behind it, he would surely feel extremely stifled inside.

"Alright! I'll go invite them over now!"

Understanding the severity of this matter, Wei shi whistled sharply, and an aerial beast immediately flew over. Jumping onto its back, the duo headed straight for the capital.

They had to repair the formation as soon as possible to keep the situation in check. Otherwise, with the earth vein becoming more and more active, it was just a matter of time before the volcano erupts. The land in a radius of several hundred kilometers would be flattened, and countless lives would be lost.

"Un!"

On the other hand, Emperor Ye Wentian immediately rushed toward where the Sixth Princess's Lake Eye was.

At this moment, Princess Fei-er had already awoken from her cultivation. Along with Luo Qiqi, she was staring at a young man in bewilderment.

Despite the huge commotion, and the entire Cleansing Lake being on the verge of exploding, this Zhang shi was actually still in the midst of his cultivation? How could he possibly keep his composure under such circumstances?

If he really was cultivating, they would have admitted it But the Spirit Cleansing Incense floating before them was still as long as before In other words, in the previous eight hours, this fellow didn't absorb the slightest spiritual energy!

But if he wasn't cultivating, what else could he be doing?

"Zhang laoshi" Luo Qiqi shouted, unable to hold herself back any longer.

No response.

"Since something happened to the Cleansing Lake, and I'm unable to beat your record, we'll take this as your victory'

Princess Fei-er harrumphed.

The other party had already expended five Spirit Cleansing Incense whereas she wasn't even done with her first one yet. Without a doubt, this bet was her loss.

Since I've already admitted defeat, stop putting on an act and come out!

But the young man before her remained completely motionless. There was no response whatsoever.

"What's wrong with him?"

No matter how foolish they could be, it was certain that something was amiss.

"I'll take a look!"

Anxious, Luo Qiqi rushed forward and jumped into Zhang Xuan's Lake Eye. She nudged the other party, but the other party remained completely motionless. Stumped, she instinctively raised her forefinger to the other party's nostril, only to leap in shock.

The young man wasn't breathing at all.

With trembling lips, Luo Qiqi uttered in horror, "He he he's dead!"